Improvement in laths for buildings



UNITED STATES PATENT EEICE.

DEWEY PHILLIPS, OF SHAFTSBURY, VERMONT.

IMPROVEMENT IN LA'THS FOFt BUILDINGS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 45,936, dated January 17, 1865.

T 0 1f/ZZ whom it may conce/'m Be it known that I, DEWEY PHILLIPS, of Shaftsbury, in the county of Bennington and State of Vermont, have invented, made, and applied to use a certain new and useful Improvement in Laths for Buildings; and Ido hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making part of this specification, wherein- Figure lis a vertical section of several of said laths as in use, and Fig. 2 is a perspective view of one ot'said laths.

Similar marks of reference denote the same parts.

Laths have heretofore been made with diagonal lips and with. beveled edges, and flaring or dovetailed openings have been left be` tween said laths in order that the plaster might be confined to the laths by entering such openings. In manyA instances the laths are independent otl each other; hence if a nail is driven into one lath the bonding mortar between that lath and those contiguous will almost always be broken oft'. Besides this, the studs receiving the laths have to be much closer together than for boarded partitions.

The nature of my said invention consists in a tongued and grooved lath with undercut grooves or channels in its surface. By the use of such laths they aid each othtrin resisting any disturbing force, a much stronger wall is produced, and a great saving is eifected in the amount of mortar required. With brick walls this style of lathin g makes the plastering much drier, and under all circumstances the nonconducting character of the wood makes the plasterin g warmer in winter and cooler in summer.

In the drawings, a a represent a series of laths formed of wood, with a tongue, l, and

groove, 2, which set together, as represented in Fig. l, and form a complete partition.

3 3 are grooves undercut toward the middle of each lath, so that the said grooves stand diagonally away from each other, as seen in Fig. l.

It will be understood that the mortar passing into and iilling these grooves 3 3 forms the bond that holds the mortar to the laths, and the said mortar cannot be separated from the laths without breaking oft.l the mortar tilling these grooves. The laths may be dampened before they are laid up, so as to prevent injury by their swelling when the mortar is applied to them and in case the laths shrink as they dry there will be little tendency to crack the mortar entering the grooves, be cause said grooves stand in nearly the same direction as that in which the shrinkage will take placa-viz., toward the center of the lath. These laths should be planed so as to have a clean andsmooth surface, and the undercut grooves should also be formed by a cutter, as l nd practically that the mortar will adhere much better to a smooth, clean surface. It will, however, be seen that my laths may be sawed out, and the tongues, grooves, and undercut grooves also be formed by saws or other suitable instruments.

that I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

Tongued and grooved laths formed with grooves in their surfaces receiving the Inortar, substantially as specified.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my signature this 6th day of February, A. D. 1864 DEWEY PHILLIPS. 

